My First SNG impression

[Insomnia]

Ive gone through a load of sngs, and they all seem to play exactly the same to me. I play the 11's btw. Everygame i fold almost everyhand preflop, unless i get dealt a monster and try to get all in preflop. At around the 3rd or 4th level, 3-5 players have been eliminated, and I start to search for spots to steal small pots. when the blinds get high, and i go on alot of steals, i seem to make the most chips for my stack. My bubble play is probebly a joke if some1 looked at it, but i think through all my plays and try to make logical decisions /images/graemlins/smile.gif
Is this normal for SNGS, how do yours usually go?

[johnny005]

looks like your on your way to learning these things... stick around here for awhile you'll see its like that for most players

[RedManPlus]

I discovered SNGs about 2 weeks ago...
And totally love the strategic analysis required.

I've played 14 total 11s and am 50% ITM...
But it's 1/3/3.
(I realize it's a small sample...
But I've learned a lot that might help new players).

The above is what happens when you "play for 3rd"...
So you are super tight until the blinds hit 50/100...
Then you loosen up.

If fact...
And I'm talking "easy to beat" Party 11s...
If you play NO hands except maybe AA,KK for first 30-40 hands...
You will be sitting there with 600-700 chips...
And at least 3 players busted out...
And you are about 2 winning SDs from sneaking into 3rd.

On the other hand...
If you "play for 3rd"...
When you get there you are usually short-stacked...
Like 1000 vs someone with 4000.

So playing for 3rd is a good way for newbies to get experience...
But it costs you an incredible amount of money in the long run.

A big thing I learned today when I busted out...
2 short stacks HTH... with winner moving into 4th.

I played it OK...
Dodging the big stack...
And pushing all in on the short stack.
But my QJs lost to his A8o.

Now in a 10 handed game...
QJs wins 19.5% of the time...
A8o wins only 12.3% of the time...
So I had 60-40 in my favor?

Wrong.

head to head the A8o is favored about 55-45.
So I gotta thow out all my 10 handed thinking...
And MUST have real time HTH probabilities.

I need to have good SNG odds calculator...
Running in real time.
Whether I find a good one...
Or code it myself remains to be seen.

Good luck...
SNGs are where the easiest money is.
The real sweet spot is probably the Party $33.

rm+

/images/graemlins/cool.gif /images/graemlins/cool.gif /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[tigerite]

Last night a $10+$1 was still 10-handed at 50/100 blinds. I had to call 88 to a short (400 chips) stack in BB with 88, he hit an over, and I then had to push as it was folded to me in late with 275, called by AA.. so they don't all follow that pattern, no /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[SamIAm]

[ QUOTE ]
I need to have good SNG odds calculator...
Running in real time.
Whether I find a good one...
Or code it myself remains to be seen.

[/ QUOTE ]This haiku represents some seriously wrong notions of what software can do for you. What do you expect your "good SnG odds calculator" to do? Certainly you're not going to guess that one opponent will call you with A8, plug-in "QJ vs A8" and say "Oh. The odds aren't as good as I thought. I won't go all in with QJ."

I agree that you should worry about a low Ace calling your all in, but you shouldn't need software to tell you that. I agree you need to adjust to tourney (and therefore shorthanded) play, but you should do this by becoming a better poker player, not writing more code.
-Sam

[rvg72]

[ QUOTE ]

I need to have good SNG odds calculator...
Running in real time.
Whether I find a good one...
Or code it myself remains to be seen.


[/ QUOTE ]

There is a chart either posted on this forum or linked to from this forum that shows heads-up odds for every hand against random cards and heads up against typical all-in calling cards (and something else in addition to this if I recall). That seems like what you would be looking for. A quick search should be able to uncover it.

rvg